Sound Training Centre

Mr_Roger_Bongos

Hello!

Mods i'm sure you'll move if im in the wrong place.

Im considering doing the DJ course in the sound training centre in Temple Bar, but considering the price tag (€1000) im trying to get a bit of feedback from anyone who might have done a course there.

I realise this is music production, but considering the training centre offer predominately production courses, i was hoping a few of the posters might have done courses.

So if you've done a course;

- Did you enjoy it?
- Was it good value for money?
- Is it a fairly professional operation?

Any advice/tips?!

Thanks in advance for any info!

af_thefragile

I did the sound engineering part time course there about 2 years ago.

I learned a LOT which helped give learn all the basics and give me the foundation to start learning and working on my skills by myself.

There're really cool guys there, its pretty fun if you go ahead with it.
I don't know how worth it its gonna be but you'll meet other guys like you over there too n it'll be a good experience.

And it'll be Timmy and Tommy who'll teach you DJing skills there. They're really cool guys. You'll have a good laugh. And they're all pretty professional too.

DamagedTrax

im sorry but 1000 for a djing course???? holy **** thats steep.

for that money you could buy a set of 12's and a load of vinyl and teach yourself. if you can dj then you'll find out. no amount of teaching will make you better.

just my opinion.

COOKSTER

An important consideration, cos it is a lot of money is whether you can no longer teach yourself? Have you got decks + mixer and tried to do some mixing/scratching or whtever you are into? Have you got a computer and have you f***ed around with making sounds on that? If you haven't even tried it then you would be wasting your money?

Have you got any mates (or their brothers) who would spend a few evenings showing you what they know for a few cans of Dutch Gold.

Ultimately, no one should decide for you. However, when someone is selling a course you should ask what you are gonna get for your money? And if they don't offer what you want, look elsewhere.
Have you been given a prospectus or breakdown of the course by STC? Lee should be able to help you there? Go in and ask to meet the course lecturers and talk to them about it, and don't let them skip over anything you need answers to
Are there any other places offering courses that appeal to you, and how do they compare? Go talk to them and look at their facilities. ask what equipment you'll be using? Get it in writing if you really don't have a clue cos afterwards when you understand it, what they have said will make sense

If you complete a course and you've been told you'll be shown a particular thing and it gets skipped, kick up a stink. A big problem with places like STC and PULSE etc is that the pupils don't listen to what they are being SOLD.

There are always posetives from doing any course. The worst outcome is that for €1000 you find out that you hate music and everything/one associated with it and chop off your ears. You will rarely get 100% value from a course but if you have some experience and give as much as you can to the course then you should recieve as much as possible from it.
Most people running sound courses are running businesses and have to design those courses with a broad range of tastes in mind.
So you will meet people who are doing the course for very different reasons to yourself and you can learnm from them. I know Timmy and Tommy and Les and all the STC gang are there cos the first love is music. If you apply yourself there is no reason why you can't get a whole lot more.

Best of Luck
C

Seziertisch

There are so many great books and forums out there, a grand is just too much to pay for something which won't have any real accreditation in the real world. I would say something about spending big money of an engineering course that gives you a recognised qualification (in the real world this means nothing, but there are certain employers etc. that require these things) but for a djing course I would say spend the money on gear. You can read all about how a synth or an eq or whatever works but there is no substitute for getting hands on experience. This is something which inevitably takes time.

Most music production software comes with a decent manual which you may have to sit down and read (I am presuming that the course involves teaching you how to produce your own tracks and do mixes using software, and not just play back other peoples music for vinyl or cd or whatever) It may take a while to digest, you may hit brick walls occasionally but that is all part of the learning process. Having someone hold your hand at the beginning in nice alright, but it ain't worth that much money. The ability to teach yourself is crucial if you want to be able to push your game up. So why not start from the beginning. Some people might say that technology etc. is for nerds and that they as an "artist" don't need it, I have found that the greater my command of the gear/software I am using and the greater my knowledge of its potential the more creative I can be. There is no easy way to gain this other than slogging it out sometimes.

I did a similar enough course (not in Ireland) which in hindsight I probably wouldn't have done. I then bought Mastering Audio and (at a much later stage) Mixing Audio (both from Focal Press) and for my 70 Euros or so worth learned more than I did from that course. Admittedly I had to sit down and read it and didn't have someone explain it to me in digestible bitesize chunks but ultimately those books offered more and were a hell of a lot cheaper. There is also no substitute for getting your hands dirty. Finding out how something works isn't the difficult part (which is what these courses teach). The difficult part is finding out how to make something work for you. There is no greater teacher than trial and error. And this combined with the fundamental guidance of some well written books should have you well on your way. As for what books just do a search of Amazon. There are usually reviews from people who have bought them giving you the low down.

That said, if you have a grand to spare and you feel you are someone who would benefit from a more structured approach then go for it.

studiorat

What exactly do you want to learn? Working with decks or computers?

DamagedTrax

^^ exactly.. from what i read of the op its decks.. theres no mention of production or engineering.

and i stand by my original thoughts - 1000 is a rip off for a dj course.
i'm playing out around ireland, england or europe most weekends (and have been since 98/99) and i wouldnt dream of charging that kinda money to teach someone how to dj.

also, what im wondering is this - beyond the initial lesson what exactly are they going to teach?

1. track selection (which cant even be thought, you either know or you dont)
2. how to cue two tracks up
3. how to use the mixer.

whats left to teach? are they gonna teach beat juggling? scratching? or do they just supervise and tell you if you're getting better? just seems to me that a teacher becomes redundant very quickly in the situation.

jtsuited

get the bill brewster book : how to dj (properly)

in all good book shops.

edit: actually you can have my copy for free. pm me.

Helix

dont see the point in doing a dj course to be perfectly honest

theres nothing you can learn that you cant learn yourself in 6 months, its the stuff that cant be taught thats the most important factor in djing

jtsuited

thank god the art of djing is finally getting some respect around here!